When I suffered from excruciating TMJ pain about 6 years ago, I tried everything I could think of, and nothing really made it go away but time. I’d read that eventually the nerves deaden and it stops hurting. That was on the right side of my face and it did stop bothering me for a few years. A year or so ago, the clicking started on the left side and developed into near constant aching.
I’m trying acupuncture again and this time am seeing some results. After three sessions, I’ve had a few hours of relief lasting longer each time, but so far the results haven’t lasted through the end of the day. I also started getting headaches again last week. That may be related to having a sore neck from getting thrown around on a boat on Monday. I’ve been stretching and using my pneumatic cervical traction device. (Love that thing.)
I have a night guard, but feel like I clench my teeth harder when I have something to bite in between them. So I’ve been trying to fall asleep to some relaxing meditation CDs. (OK, they’re on my iPod, but they started out as CDs). Deepak Chopra’s is my favorite, but you get sick of anything listening to it night after night. I have another called Just Relax, which is a little annoying, but has in the past helped me fall asleep.
Unfortunately, my iPod was set on “repeat” and was still playing when I woke up in the middle of the night from an anxiety dream. Yeah, that’s right. Anxiety dream WHILE a relaxation track is playing. The dream where I’m packing up an entire apartment and don’t have enough suitcase space or time. And when I woke up, I was drenched in sweat. So, uh, not much of an endorsement for that particular track. Unless the effect of listening to it repeatedly for hours had something to do with it having the reverse effect.
Kari Neumeyer 